georgia

Start simple. A cherry limeade and tater tots will do, eaten in a silver car that quickly heads further south along a freeway very familiar to the both of you.

Dress it up. Put on your red shoes, your best pearls, your genie pants and go, go, go until you can’t walk, can’t think, can’t stay awake. Watch them say "I do." Say goodbye. Let your friends take you away afterwards, where you sleep in the car, lulled by the freeway, for nearly two hours.

The peanut butter and German honey sandwich you are given will be the last meal you eat in someone’s house for some number of days. You suspect this, and your drive to savor this last piece of house and home wars with your immediate need for food.

Next to last city. Since a week ago today I have been in:

• Huntsville, Alabama
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Detroit, Michigan
• Minneapolis, Minnesota (technically Eden Prairie and St. Paul but who’s counting?)
• Denver, Colorado
• Fort Collins, Colorado

I remain here until Saturday afternoon, when we’ll switch back to Denver one last time. I fly home Sunday.

Everything intended has been done. 4x4 and Spitty are married. Class has been taught. Deep-dish pie accomplished with Dan and Stephanie. Shopping with jowilson done. Ethiopian food with all of the Minnesota folk. Drupal library meetup in Denver. There’s more left to do, but all in due time.

Today’s been a dramatic day. Wedding things are happening, and I did not participate as much as I would have liked thanks to an icky blood-sugar crash that knocked me out of commission for a while. I don’t know why, but even after things level out, I’m always incredibly tired. I just didn’t bounce back afterwards. Lots of sleep tonight for me; there are dragons to slay tomorrow.

Other things happened today. There were problems. At this time I’m waiting to hear everybody’s sides of the story before making up my mind. It is not a subject I should be explicit about today. It should wait. Tomorrow is another day, and all problems will be answered in the order they were received.

Oh, my dear little librarian. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to make today worth remembering.
- from The Music Man (thanks, Katie!)

Or …

The cheese dances in the park after the seance.
(Thanks, Rachel. We’ll come back to this one in a few months.)

Listmaking has begun in earnest. Panic started two days ago. There is much to do and a rapidly-lessening amount of time to do it in. A rough idea of my itinerary: